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Begin New Search Topic Geopolitics Political Geography Western Balkans

1. How external actors seek to influence the Western Balkans?

Author:
Harun Nuhanović
Publication Date:
04-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS)
Abstract:
The Western Balkans, a region with a complex history and significant geopolitical value, finds itself at the crossroads of influence from major external powers—Russia, China, and Turkey. Each of these countries extends its reach through various domains such as economics, culture, religion, politics, and security, exploiting both state and non-state mechanisms to cement their influence. This report delves into the strategies employed by these state actors, highlighting their individual and collective impacts on the strategic landscape of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia, and Montenegro. The findings reveal how these external influences pose both opportunities and significant risks, shaping the regional dynamics and the future integration of these states into larger international frameworks such as the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, NATO, European Union, and Geopolitics
Political Geography:
Russia, China, Europe, Turkey, Kosovo, and Western Balkans

2. The Spillover Effect: The Gaza Conflict and Potential Ramifications to the Western Balkans

Author:
Vuk Vuksanović
Publication Date:
01-2024
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP)
Abstract:
This report outlines potential security and geopolitical risks for the Western Balkans stemming from the war in Gaza. While none of these security challenges are inevitable, they are possible. Depending on whether the conflict in Gaza continues in its current form or whether it escalates in intensity and number of belligerents, there are at least three potential ramifications for the Western Balkans. The first concerns the potential radicalisation in the local Muslim communities involving anti-Semitism and acts of violence that could disrupt harmony between local religious communities. The second concerns the risk that if the conflict expands to engulf Iran and Hezbollah and potentially other regional actors, there is a risk that this security rivalry between Middle Eastern players like Israel and Iran will spread to the Western Balkans. Thirdly, depending on the geographical scope and duration of the conflict, there is a potentially high risk of a new refugee crisis impacting the region.
Topic:
Security, Radicalization, Geopolitics, Refugees, 2023 Gaza War, and Antisemitism
Political Geography:
Europe, Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Gaza, and Western Balkans

3. The European Union’s major enlargement to the East and Western Balkans

Author:
Vicente Palacio
Publication Date:
10-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Fundación Alternativas
Abstract:
The geopolitical urgency created in Europe by the Russian invasion and the war in Ukraine has moved the project of a ‘major enlargement’ to the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia) and to the East (Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia) at the top of the European political agenda. This new enlargement could transform the EU in a fundamental way. After the Informal European Council of June 2002, the recent informal European Council summit held in Granada on 6 October under the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU expressed consensus on the intention to undertake that enlargement. That set off a long process in which this ‘major enlargement’ needs to be addressed in terms of four aspects: how it is done (institutions and reforms); how and how much is invested in it (resources); what it is invested in (policies) and where it is invested (geographical areas).
Topic:
European Union, Geopolitics, Regional Politics, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:
Europe and Western Balkans